Week Ahead: HSBC, Standard Chartered, BoE rate decision

26th Feb 2010 11:36

The banking results season has coincided with 'bonus waiving' season this time round and when Asia-focused banking groups HSBC and Standard Chartered release full year figures next week attention is sure to be focused as much on management bonuses as on the numbers.The board of HSBC reportedly met on Friday to discuss pay and bonuses for chief executive Michael Geoghegan. A trend has been set at Barclays, Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland for the top executives to waive their rights to any bonuses but HSBC may feel under less pressure to fall in line with those banks.Helped by a £12.5bn rights issue the bank sailed through the credit crunch without having to go cap in hand to the UK government or Gulf state sovereign wealth funds, and with Geoghegan rebasing his office in Hong Kong he may feel inclined to hint that he is prepared to deal with any opprobrium from the British public should he receive a bumper pay-out.Press reports, however, suggest that shareholder pressure will persuade the board to abandon the planned 36% increase in the basic pay of Geoghegan and other top executives, or at least defer them. Geoghegan earns a basic annual salary of £1.07m and is entitled to a maximum annual bonus of £4.3m. All of HSBC's senior executives waived their bonuses last year.Market expectations are for HSBC to announce pre-tax profit of £7,135.4m on revenue of £44,009.9m.The chief executive at Standard Chartered, Peter Sands, runs a bank with a much lower UK profile; it has no branches on UK High Streets, but that will not stop the press from having plenty to say if Sands gets a big bonus which could be anything up to £2.125m. Sands gets a basic annual salary of £0.85m. On the results side of things Standard is tipped to announce profit before tax of $5.1bn. Market consensus is for earnings per share to fall somewhere in the range of $1.52 to $1.80.On Thursday the Bank of England (BoE) will announce its decision on its key lending rate. Inflation has shown signs of picking up recently but with BoE governor Mervyn King stating recently that the economic recovery is still fragile it would be a major surprise were the Monetary Policy Committee to even contemplate upping the rate.Monday March 01INTERIMSAllergy Therapeutics, Petmin, Tongaat-HulettINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECity of London Investment GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEJPMorgan Claverhouse Inv TrustINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConstruction Spending (US) (15:00)Current Account (JPN) (23:50)ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00)Personal Income (US) (13:30)Personal Spending (US) (13:30)PMI Manufacturing(EU) (09:00)PMI Manufacturing(GER) (08:55)FINALSAccess Intelligence, Amlin, ANT, Arena Leisure, British Polythene, Hiscox, HSBC Holdings, KazMunaiGaz GDR (Reg S), Kingspan Group, Landkom International, Pearson, SDL International, WSP GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Manufacturing (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECompass Group, Dewhurst, Dewhurst 'A', WichfordTuesday March 02INTERIMSAI Claims SolutionsINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEDS Smith, IG Group HoldingsINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Construction (EU) (09:00)PMI Construction (GER) (08:55)RBA Interest Rate (AUS) (00:00)Retail Sales (AUS) (00:00)Q4Cryptologic LdGMSDowning Planned Exit VCT 1FINALSAdmiral Group, Corin Group, Cryptologic Ld, Fresnillo, Futura Medical, Goldenport, Hydro International, Informa, IP Group, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Keller Group, Meggitt, Pace, Paddy Power, Persimmon, Telit Communications, Vitec GroupEGMSBank Audi SAL- Audi Saradar Group GDR (repr 1 Com Shr LBP12250)(Reg S), Finsbury Worldwide Pharmaceutical TrustAGMSAvon RubberUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Construction (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBlackRock New Energy Technology Inv Trust, British Portfolio Trust, Framlington AIM VCTWednesday March 03INTERIMSSportingbetINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEStagecoach GroupINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlumasc Group, Aquarius Platinum Ltd., BHP Billiton, BlueBay Asset Management, Carclo, Cassidy Brothers, Centaur Media, Cohort, Colefax Group, Craneware, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Diageo, Galliford Try, Gartmore Fledgling Trust, Hansard Global, Hays, James Halstead, Kesa Electricals, Lindsell Train Inv Trust, Mid Wynd International Inv Trust, Northamber, Oxford Instruments, Park Group, Ruffer Investment Company Ltd., Standard Life Equity Income Trust, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust, Thorntons, Town Centre Securities, Waterman Group, Wilmington GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEM&G Equity Inv Trust Income SharesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCurrent Account (AUS) (00:00)ECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)Gross Domestic Product (AUS) (00:00)ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Services (US) (15:00)PMI Services (EU) (09:00)PMI Services (GER) (08:55)Q2SportingbetFINALSArriva, Dialight, FBD Holdings, Hydrogen Group, International Personal Finance, Just Car Clinics Group, Lavendon Group, LSL Property Services, Macfarlane Group, Restaurant Group, RPS Group, Stadium Group, Standard Chartered, Taylor Wimpey, Unite Group, Yamana Gold IncEGMSComstar UTS GDR (Reg S)AGMSAberforth Smaller Companies Trust, Acuity VCT 3, Income & Growth VCT, New Europe Property InvestmentsUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Composite (09:30)PMI Services (09:30)FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAll Leisure Group, Ambrian Capital, BBA Aviation, Beazley Group, BlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, Cenkos Securities, Dillistone, Domino Printing, Dunedin Enterprise Inv Trust, Electronic Data Processing, Fidessa, Gleeson (M J) Group, Holders Technology, Hunting, Independent Inv Trust, JPMorgan Income & Growth Inv Trust Income Shares, Just Car Clinics Group, Law Debenture Corp., LPA Group, M Winkworth, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Moneysupermarket.com, Monks Inv Trust, Ocean Wilsons, Octopus Titan VCT 1, Octopus Titan VCT 2, Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust, Rathbone Brothers, Rights & Issue Inv Trust Capital Shares, Rights & Issues Inv Trust Income Shares, RSA Insurance Group, Safestore, Scottish American Inv Company, Securities Trust of Scotland, Severfield-Rowen, Small Companies Dividend Trust, St James's PlaceThursday March 04INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATESSL InternationalINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (AUS) (00:00)Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)Business Inventories (US) (15:00)Factory Orders (US) (15:00)GMSDirectex Realisations, MedicX Fund Ltd.FINALSAggreko, Aviva, Balfour Beatty, Fiberweb, Galiform, Hardy Oil & Gas, Hutchison China Meditech, PartyGaming, Portmeirion, Psion, Robert Walters, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Spirent Communications, Total ProduceAGMSFormjet, Jersey Electricity 'A', LPA GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSKazakhmys, WhitbreadUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Decision (12:00)Friday March 05INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECPL Resources, Daejan Holdings, Downing Protected VCT IV, Downing Protected VCT V, Latchways, Mattioli Woods, Penna ConsultingQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBoeingINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Credit (US) (20:00)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)GMSHogg Robinson, MinervaFINALSHardy Underwriting Bermuda, Michael Page International, WPP GroupFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEConnaught, ING Global Real Estate Securities, New Europe Property Investments, Northern AIM VCT, Sage Group, Treatt